Tim Burton, an auteur?

The aim of this dissertation is to examine whether Tim Burton can be considered an auteur. The dissertation will look at the style and themes of three diverse pieces of Burton's, Batman (dir, Tim Burton, 1989), Edward Scissorhands (dir, Tim Burton, 1990) and an animated short called The Birth of Stainboy (dir, Tim Burton, 2000) All three of these pieces differ in terms of production and studio. Batman was considered a multi million dollar blockbuster, Edward Scissorhands was a smaller more personal project and The Birth of Stainboy is one of six animated shorts created by Burton. When analysing Batman it was clear to see that Burton had a large budget to work with, however he also had to work with a number of constraints that the studio put into place. When looking at Edward Scissorhand it was evident that this was Burton's most personal film containing a number of autobiographical elements. Finally when examining Stainboy it is evident that Burton likes to express his feeling through his creations, making his work more personal. Concluding these examinations, I found that despite the differences in budget and studios they all share a link concerning style and themes. This proves that Burton does indeed show traits of an auteur.